Batman’66 Digital-Only Comic Puts You in Control of the Retro Action

When DC Entertainment’s Batman ’66 debuts today, it’s not simply the launch of a new digital comics series or the return of the Adam West Batman as lovingly and stylishly resurrected by writer Jeff Parker and artist Jonathan Case — it’s also the first release in the new DC² format, which the publisher describes as “the next level” of digital comics.

“DC² is something we’ve had on our roadmap for some time, but we didn’t want to do it just to do it,” Hank Kanalz, DC’s head of integrated publishing, told Wired. “We’ve considered many different titles for this, and Batman ’66 really leapt out as the perfect one.”

Perfect, but maybe not incredibly obvious considering the source material. DC² adds new layers to the digital comic page by putting in morphing artwork, conversations that build as you read, and–in true Batman fashion–gloriously over-the-top sound effects that are triggered with a touch of the device screen or click of the mouse. (Watch it in action in the video above.) It’s not animation, but something that goes beyond traditional comics at the same time. That kind of platform might not seem like the right place for a comic inspired by the Batman TV show of yesteryear, but Parker insists it’s a good fit.

“I realize it’s funny that one of the big test grounds is a famously campy series, but it makes a lot of sense,” Parker admitted. “Batman on TV hit right at a pop culture zeitgeist in the ’60s; you went into it with an understanding that it was going to play with the medium itself.”

Batman ’66 #1 is the first comic to be released in the new DC² format, which adds new layers like altering artwork and sound effects. Image courtesy DC Entertainment

The DC² experience for Batman ’66 is “not motion comics and we didn’t want it to be limited animation,” Parker added. The idea was to not just add bells and whistles to have bells and whistles but to make sure it feels like a comic book — just a little more dynamic. “And by ‘dynamic,’ I mean some movement, but all reader-controlled. It’s not a passive experience,” Kanalz added.

The shift from traditional printed comics to digital has also meant a rethinking of the creation of comics to a degree. “We’re already seeing a different vernacular being developed in storytelling, not just for DC², but for our Digital First line as well,” Kanalz said. “The pacing of a story changes–the beats from scene to scene (and screen to screen). It’s definitely different than ‘traditional’ comic book storytelling, but clearly built on top of the decades that has come before it.”

Like all DC digital-first releases, Batman ’66 will appear in print following its original digital release, which means that everything created for the DC² format must also work in print. And coming to terms with the additional workload needed to ensure it worked in all of its various iterations was tough.

“It’s a learning curve for me and the artists and our editor Jim Chadwick, but it’s an important one,” Parker said. “We’re at one of those points in history where media looks to be going overwhelmingly to digital consumption, and it’s good to embrace that and make it work for us. I suspect, based on what we’re finding out so far, that with not much more work we can make the reading experience longer–a value to many readers–and more nuanced.”

Kanalz is equally optimistic, not only about DC² and Batman ’66, but about digital comics in general. “Everyone says ‘digital is the new newsstand’ — in many ways, it’s so very different,” he said. “But the ‘wider’ distribution—the ease of accessibility—has been great for our business. Not just DC’s, but for the industry as a whole.”

The first issue of the DC² Batman ’66 is available today on ComiXology.